Economy Profile 2015 Doing Business 2015
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Doing Business 2015 France
Economy Profile 2015
France
Doing Business 2015 France 2
© 2014 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development /
The World Bank
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ISBN (paper): 978-1-4648-0351-2
ISBN (electronic): 978-1-4648-0352-9
DOI: 10.1596/978-1-4648-0351-2
ISSN: 1729-2638
Cover design: Corporate Visions, Inc.Doing Business 2015 France 3 CONTENTS Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 4 The business environment .......................................................................................................... 6 Starting a business ..................................................................................................................... 16 Dealing with construction permits ........................................................................................... 23 Getting electricity ....................................................................................................................... 29 Registering property .................................................................................................................. 35 Getting credit .............................................................................................................................. 44 Protecting minority investors ................................................................................................... 50 Paying taxes ................................................................................................................................ 60 Trading across borders .............................................................................................................. 64 Enforcing contracts .................................................................................................................... 68 Resolving insolvency .................................................................................................................. 74 Labor market regulation ........................................................................................................... 79 Distance to frontier and ease of doing business ranking ...................................................... 86 Resources on the Doing Business website .............................................................................. 89
Doing Business 2015 France 4
INTRODUCTION
Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is 1, 2014 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which
for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to cover the period January–December 2013).
medium-size business when complying with relevant
The Doing Business methodology has limitations. Other
regulations. It measures and tracks changes in
areas important to business—such as an economy’s
regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a
proximity to large markets, the quality of its
business: starting a business, dealing with construction
infrastructure services (other than those related to
permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting
trading across borders and getting electricity), the
credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes,
security of property from theft and looting, the
trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving
transparency of government procurement,
insolvency and labor market regulation.
macroeconomic conditions or the underlying strength of
In a series of annual reports Doing Business presents institutions—are not directly studied by Doing Business.
quantitative indicators on business regulations and the The indicators refer to a specific type of business,
protection of property rights that can be compared generally a local limited liability company operating in
across 189 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, the largest business city. Because standard assumptions
over time. The data set covers 47 economies in Sub- are used in the data collection, comparisons and
Saharan Africa, 32 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 25 benchmarks are valid across economies. The data not
in East Asia and the Pacific, 26 in Eastern Europe and only highlight the extent of obstacles to doing business;
Central Asia, 20 in the Middle East and North Africa and they also help identify the source of those obstacles,
8 in South Asia, as well as 31 OECD high-income supporting policy makers in designing regulatory reform.
economies. The indicators are used to analyze economic
More information is available in the full report. Doing
outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where
Business 2015 presents the indicators, analyzes their
and why.
relationship with economic outcomes and presents
This economy profile presents the Doing Business business regulatory reforms. The data, along with
indicators for France. To allow useful comparison, it also information on ordering Doing Business 2015, are
provides data for other selected economies (comparator available on the Doing Business website at
economies) for each indicator. The data in this report are http://www.doingbusiness.org.
current as of JuneDoing Business 2015 France 5
CHANGES IN DOING BUSINESS 2015
As part of a 2-year update in methodology, Doing Finally, the name of the employing workers indicator set
Business 2015 incorporates 7 important changes. First, has been changed to labor market regulation, and the
the ease of doing business ranking as well as all topic- scope of this indicator set has also been changed. The
level rankings are now computed on the basis of indicators now focus on labor market regulation
distance to frontier scores (see the chapter on the applying to the retail sector rather than the
distance to frontier and ease of doing business ranking). manufacturing sector, and their coverage has been
Second, for the 11 economies with a population of more expanded to include regulations on labor disputes and
than 100 million, data for a second city have been added on benefits provided to workers. The labor market
to the data set and the ranking calculation. These regulation indicators continue to be excluded from the
economies are Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, aggregate distance to frontier score and ranking on the
Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Russian ease of doing business.
Federation and the United States. Third, for getting
Beyond these changes there are 3 other updates in
credit, the methodology has been revised for both the
methodology. For paying taxes, the financial statement
strength of legal rights index and the depth of credit
variables have been updated to be proportional to 2012
information index. The number of points has been
income per capita; previously they were proportional to
increased in both indices, from 10 to 12 for the strength
2005 income per capita. For enforcing contracts, the
of legal rights index and from 6 to 8 for the depth of
value of the claim is now set at twice the income per
credit information index. In addition, only credit bureaus
capita or $5,000, whichever is greater. For dealing with
and registries that cover at least 5% of the adult
construction permits, the cost of construction is now set
population can receive a score on the depth of credit
at 50 times income per capita (before, the cost was
information index.
assessed by the Doing Business respondents). In addition,
Fourth, the name of the protecting investors indicator set this indicator set no longer includes the procedures for
has been changed to protecting minority investors to obtaining a landline telephone connection.
better reflect its scope—and the scope of the indicator
For more details on the changes, see the “What is
set has been expanded to include shareholders’ rights in
changing in Doing Business?” chapter starting on page
corporate governance beyond related-party transactions.
24 of the Doing Business 2015 report. For more details
Fifth, the resolving insolvency indicator set has been
on the data and methodology, please see the “Data
expanded to include an index measuring the strength of
Notes” chapter starting on page 114 of the Doing
the legal framework for insolvency. Sixth, the calculation
Business 2015 report. For more details on the distance to
of the distance to frontier score for paying taxes has
frontier metric, please see the “Distance to frontier and
been changed. The total tax rate component now enters
ease of doing business ranking” chapter in this profile.
the score in a nonlinear fashion, in an approach different
from that used for all other indicators (see the chapter
on the distance to frontier and ease of doing business
ranking).Doing Business 2015 France 6
THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
For policy makers trying to improve their economy’s
regulatory environment for business, a good place to start ECONOMY OVERVIEW
is to find out how it compares with the regulatory
environment in other economies. Doing Business provides
an aggregate ranking on the ease of doing business
Region: OECD high income
based on indicator sets that measure and benchmark
regulations applying to domestic small to medium-size Income category: High income
businesses through their life cycle. Economies are ranked
from 1 to 189 by the ease of doing business ranking. This Population: 66,028,467
year's report presents results for 2 aggregate measures:
the distance to frontier score and the ease of doing GNI per capita (US$): 42,250
business ranking. The ranking of economies is determined
by sorting the aggregate distance to frontier (DTF) scores. DB2015 rank: 31
The distance to frontier score benchmarks economies
with respect to regulatory practice, showing the absolute DB2014 rank: 33*
distance to the best performance in each Doing Business
Change in rank: 2
indicator. An economy’s distance to frontier score is
indicated on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the
DB 2015 DTF: 73.88
worst performance and 100 the frontier. (See the chapter
on the distance to frontier and ease of doing business). DB 2014 DTF: 72.18
The 10 topics included in the ranking in Doing Business
2015: starting a business, dealing with construction Change in DTF: 1.7
permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting
credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading * DB2014 ranking shown is not last year’s published
across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving ranking but a comparable ranking for DB2014 that
insolvency. The labor market regulation indicators captures the effects of such factors as data
(formerly employing workers) are not included in this corrections and the changes in methodology. See
year’s aggregate ease of doing business ranking, but the the data notes starting on page 114 of the Doing
data are presented in this year’s economy profile. Business 2015 report for sources and definitions.
The aggregate ranking on the ease of doing business
benchmarks each economy’s performance on the
indicators against that of all other economies in the Doing
Business sample (figure 1.1). While this ranking tells much
about the business environment in an economy, it does
not tell the whole story. The ranking on the ease of doing
business, and the underlying indicators, do not measure all
aspects of the business environment that matter to firms
and investors or that affect the competitiveness of the
economy. Still, a high ranking does mean that the
government has created a regulatory environment
conducive to operating a business.Doing Business 2015 France
THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Figure 1.1 Where economies stand in the global ranking on the ease of doing business
Source: Doing Business database.Doing Business 2015 France THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT For policy makers, knowing where their economy regional average (figure 1.2). The economy’s rankings stands in the aggregate ranking on the ease of doing (figure 1.3) and distance to frontier scores (figure 1.4) business is useful. Also useful is to know how it ranks on the topics included in the ease of doing business relative to comparator economies and relative to the ranking provide another perspective. Figure 1.2 How France and comparator economies rank on the ease of doing business Note: The rankings are benchmarked to June 2014 and based on the average of each economy’s distance to frontier (DTF) scores for the 10 topics included in this year’s aggregate ranking. The distance to frontier score benchmarks economies with respect to regulatory practice, showing the absolute distance to the best performance in each Doing Business indicator. An economy’s distance to frontier score is indicated on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the worst performance and 100 the frontier. For the economies for which the data cover 2 cities, scores are a population-weighted average for the 2 cities. Source: Doing Business database.
Doing Business 2015 France 9 THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Figure 1.3 Rankings on Doing Business topics - France (Scale: Rank 189 center, Rank 1 outer edge) Figure 1.4 Distance to frontier scores on Doing Business topics - France (Scale: Score 0 center, Score 100 outer edge) Note: The rankings are benchmarked to June 2014 and based on the average of each economy’s distance to frontier (DTF) scores for the 10 topics included in this year’s aggregate ranking. The distance to frontier score benchmarks economies with respect to regulatory practice, showing the absolute distance to the best performance in each Doing Business indicator. An economy’s distance to frontier score is indicated on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the worst performance and 100 the frontier. For the economies for which the data cover 2 cities, scores are a population-weighted average for the 2 cities. Source: Doing Business database.
Doing Business 2015 France 10
THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Just as the overall ranking on the ease of doing business tells Doing Business introduced the distance to frontier score. This
only part of the story, so do changes in that ranking. Yearly measure shows how far on average an economy is from the
movements in rankings can provide some indication of best performance achieved by any economy on each Doing
changes in an economy’s regulatory environment for firms, Business indicator.
but they are always relative.
Comparing the measure for an economy at 2 points in time
Moreover, year-to-year changes in the overall rankings do allows users to assess how much the economy’s regulatory
not reflect how the business regulatory environment in an environment as measured by Doing Business has changed
economy has changed over time—or how it has changed in over time—how far it has moved toward (or away from) the
different areas. To aid in assessing such changes, most efficient practices and strongest regulations in areas
covered by Doing Business (figure 1.5).
Figure 1.5 How far has France come in the areas measured by Doing Business?
Note: The distance to frontier score shows how far on average an economy is from the best performance achieved by any economy on
each Doing Business indicator since 2010, except for getting credit, paying taxes, protecting minority investors and resolving insolvency
which had methodology changes in 2014 and thus are only comparable to 2013. The measure is normalized to range between 0 and 100,
with 100 representing the best performance (the frontier). See the data notes starting on page 114 of the Doing Business 2015 report for
more details on the distance to frontier score.
Source: Doing Business database.Doing Business 2015 France 11
THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
The absolute values of the indicators tell another part of regulation—such as a regulatory process that can be
the story (table 1.1). The indicators, on their own or in completed with a small number of procedures in a few
comparison with the indicators of a good practice days and at a low cost. Comparison of the economy’s
economy or those of comparator economies in the indicators today with those in the previous year may
region, may reveal bottlenecks reflected in large numbers show where substantial bottlenecks persist—and where
of procedures, long delays or high costs. Or they may they are diminishing.
reveal unexpected strengths in an area of business
Table 1.1 Summary of Doing Business indicators for France
United Kingdom DB2015
Best performer globally
Switzerland DB2015
Germany DB2015
Belgium DB2015
Indicator
France DB2015
France DB2014
Spain DB2015
Italy DB2015
DB2015
Starting a Business
28 25 14 114 46 74 69 45 New Zealand (1)
(rank)
Starting a Business (DTF
93.00 92.49 94.42 81.38 91.22 88.08 88.42 91.23 New Zealand (99.96)
Score)
Procedures (number) 5.0 5.0 3.0 9.0 5.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 New Zealand (1.0)*
Time (days) 4.5 6.5 4.0 14.5 5.0 13.0 10.0 6.0 New Zealand (0.5)
Cost (% of income per
0.9 0.9 5.0 8.8 14.1 4.6 2.0 0.3 Slovenia (0.0)
capita)
Paid-in min. capital (%
0.0 0.0 18.2 35.8 0.0 13.8 25.4 0.0 112 Economies (0.0)*
of income per capita)
Dealing with
Hong Kong SAR,
Construction Permits 86 89 82 8 116 105 45 17
China (1)
(rank)
Dealing with
Hong Kong SAR,
Construction Permits 73.14 72.41 73.68 87.42 67.35 69.18 78.50 85.06
China (95.53)
(DTF Score)Doing Business 2015 France 12
United Kingdom DB2015
Best performer globally
Switzerland DB2015
Germany DB2015
Belgium DB2015
Indicator
France DB2015
France DB2014
Spain DB2015
Italy DB2015
DB2015
Hong Kong SAR,
Procedures (number) 8.0 8.0 10.0 8.0 10.0 7.0 11.0 9.0
China (5.0)
Time (days) 183.0 183.0 212.0 96.0 233.0 229.0 154.0 105.0 Singapore (26.0)
Cost (% of warehouse
4.7 5.1 1.1 1.1 3.7 5.2 0.7 1.2 Qatar (0.0)*
value)
Getting Electricity
60 56 99 3 102 74 5 70 Korea, Rep. (1)
(rank)
Getting Electricity (DTF
79.87 79.87 72.81 98.37 72.65 78.18 96.71 78.42 Korea, Rep. (99.83)
Score)
Procedures (number) 5.0 5.0 6.0 3.0 5.0 5.0 3.0 4.0 12 Economies (3.0)*
Time (days) 79.0 79.0 88.0 28.0 124.0 85.0 39.0 126.0 Korea, Rep. (18.0)*
Cost (% of income per
42.9 43.2 92.3 44.4 212.6 242.0 59.2 90.1 Japan (0.0)
capita)
Registering Property
126 118 171 89 41 66 16 68 Georgia (1)
(rank)
Registering Property
59.36 59.36 42.27 67.78 79.44 73.57 88.71 72.55 Georgia (99.88)
(DTF Score)
Procedures (number) 8.0 8.0 8.0 5.0 4.0 5.0 4.0 6.0 4 Economies (1.0)*
Time (days) 49.0 49.0 64.0 40.0 16.0 12.0 16.0 21.5 3 Economies (1.0)*
Cost (% of property
6.1 6.1 12.7 6.7 4.4 6.1 0.3 4.6 4 Economies (0.0)*
value)
Getting Credit (rank) 71 67 89 23 89 52 52 17 New Zealand (1)
Getting Credit (DTF
50.00 50.00 45.00 70.00 45.00 60.00 60.00 75.00 New Zealand (100)
Score)
Strength of legal rights
4 4 4 6 2 5 6 7 3 Economies (12)*
index (0-12)Doing Business 2015 France 13
United Kingdom DB2015
Best performer globally
Switzerland DB2015
Germany DB2015
Belgium DB2015
Indicator
France DB2015
France DB2014
Spain DB2015
Italy DB2015
DB2015
Depth of credit
6 6 5 8 7 7 6 8 23 Economies (8)*
information index (0-8)
Credit registry coverage
44.5 43.6 96.4 1.3 24.6 50.0 0.0 0.0 Portugal (100.0)
(% of adults)
Credit bureau coverage
0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 100.0 15.3 26.3 100.0 23 Economies (100.0)*
(% of adults)
Protecting Minority
17 16 40 51 21 30 78 4 New Zealand (1)
Investors (rank)
Protecting Minority
67.50 67.50 61.67 59.17 66.67 64.17 55.00 78.33 New Zealand (81.67)
Investors (DTF Score)
Extent of conflict of
interest regulation 5.7 5.7 7.0 5.0 6.0 5.3 3.3 8.3 Singapore (9.3)*
index (0-10)
Extent of shareholder
governance index (0- 7.8 7.8 5.3 6.8 7.3 7.5 7.7 7.3 France (7.8)*
10)
Strength of minority
investor protection 6.8 6.8 6.2 5.9 6.7 6.4 5.5 7.8 New Zealand (8.2)
index (0-10)
United Arab Emirates
Paying Taxes (rank) 95 93 81 68 141 76 18 16
(1)*
Paying Taxes (DTF United Arab Emirates
72.12 72.12 74.18 77.02 62.13 75.25 89.05 90.52
Score) (99.44)*
Payments (number per Hong Kong SAR,
8.0 8.0 11.0 9.0 15.0 8.0 19.0 8.0
year) China (3.0)*
Time (hours per year) 137.0 137.0 160.0 218.0 269.0 167.0 63.0 110.0 Luxembourg (55.0)
Trading Across Borders
10 11 26 18 37 30 22 15 Singapore (1)
(rank)
Trading Across Borders 90.18 90.08 85.55 87.67 83.44 84.68 86.10 88.32 Singapore (96.47)Doing Business 2015 France 14
United Kingdom DB2015
Best performer globally
Switzerland DB2015
Germany DB2015
Belgium DB2015
Indicator
France DB2015
France DB2014
Spain DB2015
Italy DB2015
DB2015
(DTF Score)
Documents to export
2 2 4 4 3 4 3 4 Ireland (2)*
(number)
Time to export (days) 10.0 10.0 9.0 9.0 19.0 10.0 8.0 8.0 5 Economies (6.0)*
Cost to export (US$ per
1,335.0 1,335.0 1,240.0 1,015.0 1,195.0 1,310.0 1,660.0 1,005.0 Timor-Leste (410.0)
container)
Cost to export (deflated
1,335.0 1,350.2 1,240.0 1,015.0 1,195.0 1,310.0 1,660.0 1,005.0
US$ per container)
Documents to import
2 2 4 4 3 4 4 4 Ireland (2)*
(number)
Time to import (days) 11.0 11.0 8.0 7.0 18.0 9.0 8.0 6.0 Singapore (4.0)
Cost to import (US$ per
1,445.0 1,445.0 1,400.0 1,050.0 1,145.0 1,400.0 1,440.0 1,050.0 Singapore (440.0)
container)
Cost to import (deflated
1,445.0 1,461.5 1,400.0 1,050.0 1,145.0 1,400.0 1,440.0 1,050.0
US$ per container)
Enforcing Contracts
10 10 10 13 147 69 22 36 Singapore (1)
(rank)
Enforcing Contracts
77.67 77.67 77.67 76.74 45.61 62.65 72.20 68.08 Singapore (89.54)
(DTF Score)
Time (days) 395.0 395.0 505.0 394.0 1,185.0 510.0 390.0 437.0 Singapore (150.0)
Cost (% of claim) 17.4 17.4 17.7 14.4 23.1 18.5 24.0 39.9 Iceland (9.0)
Procedures (number) 29.0 29.0 26.0 31.0 37.0 40.0 32.0 29.0 Singapore (21.0)*
Resolving Insolvency
22 42 11 3 29 23 41 13 Finland (1)
(rank)
Resolving Insolvency
75.94 60.31 83.87 91.78 71.29 75.89 63.10 82.04 Finland (93.85)
(DTF Score)Doing Business 2015 France 15
United Kingdom DB2015
Best performer globally
Switzerland DB2015
Germany DB2015
Belgium DB2015
Indicator
France DB2015
France DB2014
Spain DB2015
Italy DB2015
DB2015
Time (years) 1.9 1.9 0.9 1.2 1.8 1.5 3.0 1.0 Ireland (0.4)
Cost (% of estate) 9.0 9.0 3.5 8.0 22.0 11.0 3.5 6.0 Norway (1.0)
Outcome (0 as
piecemeal sale and 1 as 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1
going concern)
Recovery rate (cents on
77.2 48.2 89.1 83.4 62.8 71.3 47.6 88.6 Japan (92.9)
the dollar)
Strength of insolvency
11.0 11.0 11.5 15.0 12.0 12.0 12.0 11.0 5 Economies (15.0)*
framework index (0-16)
Note: DB2014 rankings shown are not last year’s published rankings but comparable rankings for DB2014 that capture the effects of such
factors as data corrections and changes to the methodology. Trading across borders deflated and non-deflated values are identical in
DB2015 because it is defined as the base year for the deflator. The best performer on time for paying taxes is defined as the lowest time
recorded among all economies in the DB2015 sample that levy the 3 major taxes: profit tax, labor taxes and mandatory contributions, and
VAT or sales tax. If an economy has no laws or regulations covering a specific area—for example, insolvency—it receives a “no practice”
mark. Similarly, an economy receives a “no practice” or “not possible” mark if regulation exists but is never used in practice or if a
competing regulation prohibits such practice. Either way, a “no practice” mark puts the economy at the bottom of the ranking on the
relevant indicator.
* Two or more economies share the top ranking on this indicator. A number shown in place of an economy’s name indicates the number
of economies that share the top ranking on the indicator. For a list of these economies, see the Doing Business website
(http://www.doingbusiness.org).
Source: Doing Business database.Doing Business 2015 France 16
STARTING A BUSINESS
Formal registration of companies has many WHAT THE STARTING A BUSINESS
immediate benefits for the companies and for
business owners and employees. Legal entities can INDICATORS MEASURE
outlive their founders. Resources are pooled as
several shareholders join forces to start a company. Procedures to legally start and operate a
Formally registered companies have access to company (number)
services and institutions from courts to banks as well
Preregistration (for example, name
as to new markets. And their employees can benefit
verification or reservation, notarization)
from protections provided by the law. An additional
benefit comes with limited liability companies. These Registration in the economy’s largest
limit the financial liability of company owners to their business city1
investments, so personal assets of the owners are not
Postregistration (for example, social security
put at risk. Where governments make registration
registration, company seal)
easy, more entrepreneurs start businesses in the
formal sector, creating more good jobs and Time required to complete each procedure
generating more revenue for the government. (calendar days)
What do the indicators cover? Does not include time spent gathering
information
Doing Business measures the ease of starting a
business in an economy by recording all procedures Each procedure starts on a separate day (2
officially required or commonly done in practice by procedures cannot start on the same day).
an entrepreneur to start up and formally operate an Procedures that can be fully completed
industrial or commercial business—as well as the online are recorded as ½ day.
time and cost required to complete these procedures. Procedure completed once final document is
It also records the paid-in minimum capital that received
companies must deposit before registration (or
within 3 months). The ranking of economies on the No prior contact with officials
ease of starting a business is determined by sorting Cost required to complete each procedure
their distance to frontier scores for starting a (% of income per capita)
business. These scores are the simple average of the
distance to frontier scores for each of the component Official costs only, no bribes
indicators. No professional fees unless services required
To make the data comparable across economies, by law
Doing Business uses several assumptions about the Paid-in minimum capital (% of income
business and the procedures. It assumes that all per capita)
information is readily available to the entrepreneur
and that there has been no prior contact with Deposited in a bank or with a notary before
officials. It also assumes that the entrepreneur will registration (or within 3 months)
pay no bribes. And it assumes that the business:
Is a limited liability company, located in the Has a start-up capital of 10 times income per
largest business city and is 100% domestically capita.
owned1.
Has a turnover of at least 100 times income per
Has between 10 and 50 employees. capita.
Conducts general commercial or industrial Does not qualify for any special benefits.
activities.
Does not own real estate.
1
For the 11 economies with a population of more than 100 million, data for a second city have been added.Doing Business 2015 France 17 STARTING A BUSINESS Where does the economy stand today? What does it take to start a business in France? largest business city of an economy, except for 11 According to data collected by Doing Business, starting a economies for which the data are a population-weighted business there requires 5.0 procedures, takes 4.5 days, average of the 2 largest business cities. See the chapter costs 0.9% of income per capita and requires paid-in on distance to frontier and ease of doing business minimum capital of 0.0% of income per capita (figure ranking at the end of this profile for more details. 2.1). Most indicator sets refer to a case scenario in the Figure 2.1 What it takes to start a business in France Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita): 0.0 Note: Time shown in the figure above may not reflect simultaneity of procedures. Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For more information on the methodology of the starting a business indicators, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary at the end of this chapter. Source: Doing Business database.
Doing Business 2015 France 18 STARTING A BUSINESS Globally, France stands at 28 in the ranking of 189 average ranking provide other useful information for economies on the ease of starting a business (figure 2.2). assessing how easy it is for an entrepreneur in France to The rankings for comparator economies and the regional start a business. Figure 2.2 How France and comparator economies rank on the ease of starting a business Source: Doing Business database.
Doing Business 2015 France 19
STARTING A BUSINESS
Economies around the world have taken steps making it they often are part of a larger regulatory reform
easier to start a business—streamlining procedures by program. Among the benefits have been greater firm
setting up a one-stop shop, making procedures simpler satisfaction and savings and more registered businesses,
or faster by introducing technology and reducing or financial resources and job opportunities.
eliminating minimum capital requirements. Many have
What business registration reforms has Doing Business
undertaken business registration reforms in stages—and
recorded in France (table 2.1)?
Table 2.1 How has France made starting a business easier—or not?
By Doing Business report year from DB2010 to DB2015
DB year Reform
France made starting a business easier by reducing the time it
DB2015 takes to register a company at the one-stop shop (Centre de
Formalités des Entreprises).
Note: For information on reforms in earlier years (back to DB2005), see the Doing Business reports
for these years, available at http://www.doingbusiness.org.
Source: Doing Business database.Doing Business 2015 France 20
STARTING A BUSINESS
What are the details?
Underlying the indicators shown in this chapter for
STANDARDIZED COMPANY
France is a set of specific procedures—the
bureaucratic and legal steps that an entrepreneur
must complete to incorporate and register a new Legal form: Société à Responsabilité Limitée
firm. These are identified by Doing Business through (SARL) - Limited Liability Company
collaboration with relevant local professionals and
the study of laws, regulations and publicly available Paid in minimum capital requirement: EUR 1
information on business entry in that economy. City: Paris
Following is a detailed summary of those procedures,
along with the associated time and cost. These Start-up Capital: 10 times GNI per capita
procedures are those that apply to a company
matching the standard assumptions (the
“standardized company”) used by Doing Business in
collecting the data (see the section in this chapter on
what the indicators measure).
Table 2.2 Summary of time, cost and procedures for starting a business in France
Time to
No. Procedure Cost to complete
complete
Check name for uniqueness with the Institut National de la
Propriété Industrielle (INPI)
Although it is not legally mandatory to check the proposed company
name for uniqueness before registering a company, this procedure is
included because legal consequences may follow if this step is omitted.
If the name is not checked, the company risks a lawsuit by another no charge (unless
company. The name can be checked online. A summary check is free of Less than one day deeper research is
1
charge, but fees are charged for copies of trademark filings found. For (online procedure) made, for example,
an optional search of similar trademarks, fees are EUR 40 for three by field of activity)
classes and EUR 400 for all classes.
Agency: Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle (INPI)
Deposit the initial capital
Within 8 days of the collection of all funds, the initial capital must be
deposited with a notary public, the bank, or the Deposit and
2 Consignment Office (Caisse des Dépôt). The initial capital is blocked 1 day no charge
during the registration period and released upon presentation of a K-
bis form.
Agency: BankDoing Business 2015 France 21
Time to
No. Procedure Cost to complete
complete
* Publish a notice of incorporation of the company
This notice must provide the name of the company and its manager
(gérant), share capital, and registered office. The founder needs only a EUR 5.49 per line of
1 day,
letter from the legal journal confirming the planned publication. The 40 characters
3 simultaneous with
publication fee is EUR 5.48 (VAT excluded) per line of 40 characters. (assuming 30 lines)
Procedure 2
Agency: Legal Journal
File a request for a company’s registration with the Centre de
Formalités des Entreprises (CFE)
"The Centre de Formalités des Entreprises (CFE) handles all formalities
related to the trade register in the court (RCS, Tribunal de Commerce),
statistics (INSEE), tax authorities (Centre des Impôts), social security
(URSSAF), labor (Direction Departemental du Travail et de L’emploi),
health insurance (Caisse regionale D’assurance Maladie),
unemployment insurance, pension, Employment Pole (Pole Emploi),
and similar bodies. This includes the registration of the company bylaws
with the tax administration. Company articles of association and bylaws,
lease, attestation of receipt of funds, documents concerning the
manager, ad hoc forms, evidence of publication, and so forth, must be
filed in a single file. After receiving the request, the CFE must process
the documents and transfer them to the respective offices and EUR 84.24 paid to
authorities. If the request is incomplete, the CFE has 15 days to return the trade register in
the documents for completion. The CFE automatically enters the 1 day on average the Commercial
4
information in the Registre Nationale des Entreprise (Répertoire
court
SIRENE) and obtains identification numbers from the RNE: SIRENE
number (Systéme Informatique pour le Répertoire des Entreprises),
SIRET number (Systéme Informatique pour le Répertoire des
Etablissements), and NAF number (Nomenclature des Activitees
Francaises). The SIRET is used, among other things, by the tax
authorities.
Since the Dutreil Law, the CFE or the Commercial Registry can deliver a
receipt for company creation (récepissé de creation d’entreprise) as
soon as they have received the documents, so that the company can
start operations without having to wait for its RCS number.
The principle of electronic company registration was enacted by Law
2003-721 (August 1, 2003) and implemented under Decree No. 2005-77
(February 1, 2005). However, a hard copy file is still required. As of
Decree No. 2006-679 of June 9, 2006, the founder has the option to file
either with the CFE or directly with the Companies Registry (greffe),Doing Business 2015 France 22
Time to
No. Procedure Cost to complete
complete
which subsequently files the documents with the CFE on the company's
behalf. This option is slightly less costly because the CFE service fees are
excluded. However, the founder must register the company's bylaws
with the tax administration in person. "
Agency: Centre de Formalités des Entreprises (CFE)
* Buy company books (minute books, inventory books, ledgers).
Have company books stamped and initialed by the clerk of the
commercial court
Special accounting company books must be bought from the court or
specialized stores. The books have numbered pages or numbered
sheets, both of which must be certified by the Commercial Court). If a
book with numbered pages is used, the certification is made only once
(when the company is incorporated). If numbered sheets are used, the EUR 45 for three
certification must be made for the minutes of shareholders’ meeting. If 1 day, books (EUR 15 per
an accounting book is used, the certification must be made once each simultaneous with book) + EUR 3.12
5
fiscal year. Therefore, for practical reasons books are often used. In
Procedure 4 stamping fee
theory, it is possible to have an electronic minute book provided that
the procedure to draft the document is secured (to avoid document
modification once it is drafted). Such a solution is rarely used because a
secured procedure has not been clearly defined and the commercial
court certification is more complicated in that case. It is possible for the
company to acquire the book later, after it starts operation.
Agency: Court
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation.
Source: Doing Business database.Doing Business 2015 France 23
DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION PERMITS
Regulation of construction is critical to protect the WHAT THE DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION
public. But it needs to be efficient, to avoid excessive
PERMITS INDICATORS MEASURE
constraints on a sector that plays an important part in
every economy. Where complying with building
regulations is excessively costly in time and money, Procedures to legally build a warehouse
many builders opt out. They may pay bribes to pass (number)
inspections or simply build illegally, leading to Submitting all relevant documents and
hazardous construction that puts public safety at risk. obtaining all necessary clearances, licenses,
Where compliance is simple, straightforward and permits and certificates
inexpensive, everyone is better off. Submitting all required notifications and
What do the indicators cover? receiving all necessary inspections
Doing Business records the procedures, time and cost Obtaining utility connections for water and
for a business in the construction industry to obtain sewerage
all the necessary approvals to build a warehouse in Registering the warehouse after its
the economy’s largest business city, connect it to completion (if required for use as collateral or
basic utilities and register the warehouse so that it for transfer of the warehouse)
can be used as collateral or transferred to another Time required to complete each procedure
entity. (calendar days)
The ranking of economies on the ease of dealing with Does not include time spent gathering
construction permits is determined by sorting their information
distance to frontier scores for dealing with
Each procedure starts on a separate day.
construction permits. These scores are the simple
Procedures that can be fully completed online
average of the distance to frontier scores for each of
are recorded as ½ day.
the component indicators.
Procedure considered completed once final
To make the data comparable across economies, document is received
Doing Business uses several assumptions about the
business and the warehouse, including the utility No prior contact with officials
connections. Cost required to complete each procedure (%
The business: of warehouse value)
Official costs only, no bribes
Is a limited liability company operating in
the construction business and located in Will have complete architectural and
the largest business city. For the 11 technical plans prepared by a licensed
economies with a population of more than architect or engineer.
100 million, data for a second city have
Will be connected to water and sewerage
been added. Is domestically owned and
(sewage system, septic tank or their
operated.
equivalent). The connection to each utility
Has 60 builders and other employees. network will be 150 meters (492 feet) long.
The warehouse: Will be used for general storage, such as of
books or stationery (not for goods requiring
Is valued at 50 times income per capita.
special conditions).
Is a new construction (there was no
Will take 30 weeks to construct (excluding all
previous construction on the land).
delays due to administrative and regulatory
requirements).Doing Business 2015 France 24 DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION PERMITS Where does the economy stand today? What does it take to comply with the formalities to build economy, except for 11 economies for which the data a warehouse in France? According to data collected by are a population-weighted average of the 2 largest Doing Business, dealing with construction permits there business cities. See the chapter on distance to frontier requires 8.0 procedures, takes 183.0 days and costs 4.7% and ease of doing business ranking at the end of this of the warehouse value (figure 3.1). Most indicator sets profile for more details. refer to a case scenario in the largest business city of an Figure 3.1 What it takes to comply with formalities to build a warehouse in France Note: Time shown in the figure above may not reflect simultaneity of procedures. Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For more information on the methodology of the dealing with construction permits indicators, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary at the end of this chapter. Source: Doing Business database.
Doing Business 2015 France 25 DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION PERMITS Globally, France stands at 86 in the ranking of 189 economies and the regional average ranking provide economies on the ease of dealing with construction other useful information for assessing how easy it is for permits (figure 3.2). The rankings for comparator an entrepreneur in France to legally build a warehouse. Figure 3.2 How France and comparator economies rank on the ease of dealing with construction permits Source: Doing Business database.
Doing Business 2015 France 26
DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION PERMITS
What are the details?
The indicators reported here for France are based on
BUILDING A WAREHOUSE
a set of specific procedures—the steps that a
company must complete to legally build a
warehouse—identified by Doing Business through Estimated cost of
information collected from experts in construction EUR 1,588,171
construction :
licensing, including architects, civil engineers,
construction lawyers, construction firms, utility
City : Paris
service providers and public officials who deal with
building regulations. These procedures are those The procedures, along with the associated time and cost,
that apply to a company and structure matching the are summarized below.
standard assumptions used by Doing Business in
collecting the data (see the section in this chapter on
what the indicators cover).
Table 3.2 Summary of time, cost and procedures for dealing with construction permits in France
Time to
No. Procedure Cost to complete
complete
Obtain an urbanism certificate
There are two types of an urbanism certificate:
• Form A informative -- The informative form is a request to only
establish the existing planning state of a building.
• Form B operational -- The second is an operational planning
certificate. In addition to information provided by the informative
planning certificate, this certificate indicates if the land can be used for
a project and the existing or planned state of public utilities (channels
and networks) to serve or serve this land.
1 60 days no charge
A planning certificate is valid for 18 months and can be renewed 2
months prior to its expiration. The request for a planning certificate
must be submitted at the City Hall where the lot is located using a form
Cerfa N° 13410*01. The average time to process the operational
planning certificate is 2 months. If no answer is given within these 2
months, the silent-is-consent rule applies.
Agency: City Hall (Mairie)
Obtain building permit
To obtain a building permit, BuildCo must submit the following:
• Location plan (orientation, access roads) and overall plan of the
construction or renovation (dimensions, elevations, connections,
access), drawn up on grounds of the Land Registry–based map,
representing the plot
2 • Front elevations 90 days EUR 70,113
• Views, cross sections, layout
• Document with a detailed description of the project impact on the
existing landscape to prove that it is environmentally friendly
• Survey photographs (both near- and long-range), allowing for the
easy identification of the site in relation to the surrounding areas
To prepare this documentation, BuildCo must obtain the buildingDoing Business 2015 France 27
Time to
No. Procedure Cost to complete
complete
permit forms from City Hall or on the Internet through the Booth for
Forms (Guichet des formulaires) of the Equipment, Transport, and
Housing Ministry (Ministère de l’ Equipment, des Transports et du
Logement) (www.equipement.gouv.fr/). Four copies of the application
are filed at City Hall and a receipt is given in person or it may be sent
by registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt. If one document is
missing, claims must be made within 14 days after registration. Where
the application is accompanied by all the required documents, the
contractor will receive acknowledgment of receipt, indicating the date
and registration number and the time needed for title investigation.
The building permit will be issued within 3 months after registration of
the application (except where the plot is a classified site). The
contractor shall deem the permit tacitly granted if no reply is received
within the 3 month period. The building permit is valid for 2 years. The
contractor must begin work (or apply for an extension) within that time;
otherwise, the permit expires. Moreover, if the contractor halts work for
over a year, the validity of the permit expires, even if the 2-year
statutory period has not yet elapsed. The permit must be displayed at
the construction site and must include all the requisite information:
mandatory dimensions, building permit number and date of issue,
name of permit holder, nature of the work, and the address of City Hall
where construction documents are open to public scrutiny.
A copy of the building permit must be available in City Hall for 2
months to enable any aggrieved third parties (i.e., adjacent property
owners) to challenge it.
Agency: City Hall (Mairie)
* Apply for water connection
The water utility connection is typically a lengthy process. Thus, it is
advisable to request it prior to beginning construction work. 0.5 days no charge
3
Agency: Eaux de Paris
Receive site visit by Eaux de Paris to prepare a cost estimate (devis)
for water connection
4 1 day no charge
Agency: Eaux de Paris
* File a declaration of the worksite opening
The declaration of the opening of construction site is a key step. This
declaration can be done either by completing a form (Cerfa 46.0394) 1 day no charge
5
obtainable either at City Hall or on the Internet through the (Guichet
des formulaires), located at the Equipment, Transport and Housing
Ministry (Ministère de l’ Equipment, des Transports et du Logement)
Web site (www.equipement.gouv.fr/) or online.Doing Business 2015 France 28
Time to
No. Procedure Cost to complete
complete
If the applicant chooses to mail the form, then the completed forms
must be sent to City Hall by registered mail with acknowledgement of
receipt.
Agency: City Hall (Mairie)
Declare completion of construction
Within 30 days of work completion, the contractor must send City Hall
a notice -- by registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt,
through a letter signed by the contractor’s company, or by the firms
that worked on the project -- in which the architect declares the
6 completion of the construction. That document must be included in the 1 day no charge
building permit application file. Three copies of the forms must be
completed.
Agency: City Hall (Mairie)
Receive visit by building inspectors and obtain compliance
certificate
The compliance certificate attests that the completed project meets the
building permit specifications. Once the declaration of completion is
filed, an official from City Hall or the Equipment Departmental
Directorate (Direction Départementale de l’Équipement, DDE) then 1 day no charge
7
visits the site to verify whether the structure conforms to building
permit specifications. The compliance certificate is issued within 3
months of the application if the specifications are met.
Agency: City Hall or Equipement Departmental Directorate
* Obtain water connection
8 30 days EUR 4,000
Agency: Eaux de Paris
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation.
Source: Doing Business database.Doing Business 2015 France 29
GETTING ELECTRICITY
Access to reliable and affordable electricity is vital for WHAT THE GETTING ELECTRICITY
businesses. To counter weak electricity supply, many
firms in developing economies have to rely on self- INDICATORS MEASURE
supply, often at a prohibitively high cost. Whether
electricity is reliably available or not, the first step for Procedures to obtain an electricity
a customer is always to gain access by obtaining a connection (number)
connection.
Submitting all relevant documents and
What do the indicators cover? obtaining all necessary clearances and permits
Doing Business records all procedures required for a Completing all required notifications and
local business to obtain a permanent electricity receiving all necessary inspections
connection and supply for a standardized warehouse,
as well as the time and cost to complete them. These Obtaining external installation works and
procedures include applications and contracts with possibly purchasing material for these works
electricity utilities, clearances from other agencies Concluding any necessary supply contract and
and the external and final connection works. The obtaining final supply
ranking of economies on the ease of getting
electricity is determined by sorting their distance to Time required to complete each procedure
frontier scores for getting electricity. These scores are (calendar days)
the simple average of the distance to frontier scores Is at least 1 calendar day
for each of the component indicators. To make the
data comparable across economies, several Each procedure starts on a separate day
assumptions are used. Does not include time spent gathering
The warehouse: information
Is owned by a local entrepreneur, located Reflects the time spent in practice, with little
in the economy’s largest business city, in follow-up and no prior contact with officials
an area where other warehouses are Cost required to complete each procedure
located. For the 11 economies with a (% of income per capita)
population of more than 100 million, data
Official costs only, no bribes
for a second city have been added.
Excludes value added tax
Is not in a special economic zone where
the connection would be eligible for
subsidization or faster service. Is to either the low-voltage or the medium-
voltage distribution network and either
Is located in an area with no physical
overhead or underground, whichever is more
constraints (ie. property not near a railway).
common in the area where the warehouse is
Is a new construction being connected to located. Included only negligible length in the
electricity for the first time. customer’s private domain.
Is 2 stories, both above ground, with a total Requires crossing of a 10-meter road but all
surface of about 1,300.6 square meters the works are carried out in a public land, so
(14,000 square feet), is built on a plot of there is no crossing into other people's
929 square meters (10,000 square feet), is private property.
used for storage of refrigerated goods
Involves installing one electricity meter. The
The electricity connection: monthly electricity consumption will be
26880 kilowatt hour (kWh). The internal
Is 150 meters long and is a 3-phase, 4-wire
electrical wiring has been completed.
Y, 140-kilovolt-ampere (kVA) (subscribed
capacity) connection.Doing Business 2015 France 30
GETTING ELECTRICITY
Where does the economy stand today?
What does it take to obtain a new electricity connection Most indicator sets refer to a case scenario in the largest
in France? According to data collected by Doing Business, business city of an economy, except for 11 economies for
getting electricity there requires 5.0 procedures, takes which the data are a population-weighted average of the
79.0 days and costs 42.9% of income per capita (figure 2 largest business cities. See the chapter on distance to
4.1). frontier and ease of doing business ranking at the end of
this profile for more details.
Figure 4.1 What it takes to obtain an electricity connection in France
Note: Time shown in the figure above may not reflect simultaneity of procedures. For more information on the methodology of the
getting electricity indicators, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org). For details on the procedures reflected
here, see the summary at the end of this chapter.
Source: Doing Business database.Doing Business 2015 France 31 GETTING ELECTRICITY Globally, France stands at 60 in the ranking of 189 average ranking provide another perspective in assessing economies on the ease of getting electricity (figure 4.2). how easy it is for an entrepreneur in France to connect a The rankings for comparator economies and the regional warehouse to electricity. Figure 4.2 How France and comparator economies rank on the ease of getting electricity Source: Doing Business database.
Doing Business 2015 France 32
GETTING ELECTRICITY
What are the details?
The indicators reported here for France are based on a
OBTAINING AN ELECTRICITY CONNECTION
set of specific procedures—the steps that an
entrepreneur must complete to get a warehouse
connected to electricity by the local distribution utility— Electricité Réseau
identified by Doing Business. Data are collected from the Name of utility: Distribution France
distribution utility, then completed and verified by (ERDF)
electricity regulatory agencies and independent
professionals such as electrical engineers, electrical City: Paris
contractors and construction companies. The electricity
The procedures are those that apply to a warehouse and
distribution utility surveyed is the one serving the area electricity connection matching the standard
(or areas) in which warehouses are located. If there is a assumptions used by Doing Business in collecting the
choice of distribution utilities, the one serving the largest data (see the section in this chapter on what the
number of customers is selected. indicators cover). The procedures, along with the
associated time and cost, are summarized below.
Table 4.2 Summary of time, cost and procedures for getting electricity in France
Time to
No. Procedure Cost to complete
complete
The client applies for electricity connection and awaits estimate of
connection fees from Electricité Réseau Distribution France (ERDF)
Along with the application, the client needs to submit the following
documents:
• information about the company, the site, and the project contact
people
• the client’s needed capacity; capacities have to be provided in kVA for
Low-Voltage (LV) connections and in kW for Medium-Voltage (MV)
connections.
• a list of the client’s electrical equipment so Electricité Réseau 28 calendar days EUR 0
1
Distribution France (ERDF) can determine the potential disruptions on
their network.
• a ground-plan (« plan de masse ») and an establishing shot (« plan de
situation ») to identify the future point of supply
• copy of the planning permission
• the client’s date of final connection (energization)
• a connection authorization (« mandat de raccordement ») (optional)
Agency: Electricité Réseau Distribution France (ERDF)
* The client obtains external inspection by Electricité Réseau
Distribution France (ERDF)
2 After receiving the application, Electricité Réseau Distribution France 1 calendar day EUR 0
(ERDF) inspects the site to determine the material needed for the
external works and final connection, and will send the client either an
estimate of the connection fees or the requirements for the connection,You can also read
